1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to the art of strain reliefs and more particularly, to a bending strain relief device for a hose.
2. Description of the Prior Art
In the past, when refueling one ship at sea by another with liquid fuel, it has been the practice to use a refueling system which connects the ships with a span wire or cable and trolleys a flexible hose or conduit on the span wire or cable from one ship to the other. These refueling systems generally include flow through saddles which are attached to a trolley, connect the elements of the hose and provide for a point of suspension of the hose.
The portions of the hose adjacent a flow through saddle are subject to extraordinary stresses since the flow through saddle is rigid and that portion of the hose immediately beyond the flow through saddle is free to flex. These stresses may result in premature fatigue and rupture of the hose at or adjacent to the hose's point of entry into the flow through saddle.
One strain relief device of the prior art is Harry A. Appleby and Frank Albert, Jr. U.S. Pat. No 3,921,257. An appliance for linear bodies is disclosed therein which includes a flange having several apertures, each aperture being adapted to receive one end of a helically preformed rod. The rods extend forward from the flange tapering naturally into a helically wrapped gripping engagement with the cable. A resilient material is integrally molded about the forward extending portion of the helical rods.
Frank Albert Jr. U.S. Pat. No. 4,367,967 also discloses a bending strain relief device in the form of an elongated tubular member having a plurality of rigid sleeve members positioned one after another along an axis and connected together by an elastomeric material which deforms and flows during angular movement of adjacent sleeve members thereby limiting the degree of curvature which can be imparted to the tubular member.
While satisfactory for their intended purpose of providing strain relief to cables, these devices of the prior art ordinarily leave something to be desired, especially from the standpoints of compatibility with hoses used in state-of-the-art ship-to-ship refueling systems, design complexity, durability and overall operation efficiency.